Babies in Disneyland

Before we left for Disney I tried to find info on taking a baby to Disneyland but couldn't find out everything I wanted in one spot so here is my opinion about taking them.

Taking Callia was a great experience. She wasn't just dragged along, she truly enjoyed watching the shows and parades and she was enthralled with the rides she could go on. Callia was 6 1/2 months old but even though she is small for her age she did great on the rides.

Babies can go on all the rides in Fantasyland except for the Matterhorn and maybe Dumbo.

In Tomorrowland they can go on Astro Blaster, Nemo and Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

In Frontierland she could go on the paddle wheel.

In New Orleans they can go on Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted House.

In Critter Country they can go on Winnie the Pooh.

In Toon town there were no rides - Roger Rabbit is (in my opinion)much too rough for babies.

In Adventureland she could go on the jungle cruise, up the tree house and in the Tikki Room.

In California Adventure there wasn't much that she could go on - she could go on the train ride in Bugsland, the 3D show in Bugs Life and the Take out ride in Bugs land. Oh - babies can also go on the carousel, Toy Story Mania (though it would be hard to shoot holding a baby) and Monsters Inc.

Apparently they have baby change areas but I found just as easy to change her in the stroller and to find a bench or the ground to nurse her. She is a quick nurser and I wanted to stay in the area the kids were in so I didn't go looking for the stations.

Remember to take hats, sunscreen, and light blankets to cover them up from the sun. If you go in the fall/winter you will need something warmer for them in the evenings as it can become quite cool. Take a rain cover for your stroller (yeah, ours never left the hotel). Some hotels have cribs you can use. We took down everything she would need food and diaper wise.

So there you have it. My biggest search was for what rides a baby could go on.

My heart breaks...

Our little guy Aiden needs glasses, or so the optometrist says. We're not sure if he does or not b/c he doesn't show any signs of needing them - has never complained about not seeing, we just took the boys in for a regular check up and came out with a surprise. We just picked up his glasses this week and he has been wearing them for about two hours a day (when we remember). The frustrating thing is that he can't seem to tell us if they help him or not. And we're confused b/c at the eye docs. he told me the glasses were for close up but at Costco we were told they were for distance and THEN one day Aiden tells me they help him see better close up and the next day he said they help for distance. AHHHHHH! But my heart breaks b/c last night he was in tears for at least a half hour about having to wear them to school. He said he'll be embarrassed, didn't even know he knew what that meant. There is a little girl in his class that wears them but that's not much comfort to him. I know glasses aren't a huge deal but as a parent you don't want your child to go thru anything uncomfortable. I think we're going to get a second opinion since Aiden seems so confused. I'd love to take this from him but then I probably wouldn't be able to see at all if I added his eye problems to my own! It's sad his baby blues are a little covered but he does look cute in them - I'll post a pic. once I take it.

What have I created?

At the beginning of September I decided that I was going to do breakfast different this year. Aiden was eating not eating enough when he chose cold cereal so he would go to school with a full tummy I had to come up with a plan. I got my idea from a friend and didn't know if I could do it but I have and it's going well - maybe too well. You see I decided that I would make pancakes one morning, which would do for two breakfasts, have eggs and sausage one morning and then on the other two mornings they can choose b/w toast, hot cereal or cold cereal. My little 3 year old doesn't remember life pre pancakes in the morning. B/f this idea took hold of our life, pancakes were reserved for an easy dinner but now they're for breakfast and Christian figures they should be for breakfast every day (or almost). This pic. was taken a couple of days ago after I told him no I can't make pancakes (wasn't quite in the groove after our trip) and you would've thought I had just told him that trains don't exist! He asks almost every morning for pancakes -he usually takes no okay as long as we've had them within the last couple of days!! Man, what have I created?

7months

Here's another update of our Princess;

-sits by herself (only topples over every once in a while, we still put pillows around)

-weighs in at 12lbs 11 oz (yeah you gained a pound finally)

-been on an airplane

-eating a variety of veggies and starting on fruit

-love mummums and stars

-still nap 2-3 times a day

-still love your brothers

-love to touch all of our faces, hair

-don't play strange

That's about it. You make me smile every day and melt my heart. Every once in a while it hits me "wow, we have a girl". I love seeing you eating new things and being able to do new things!

A Lesson Learned

The forbidden ride.

"Ah - it feels so good to confess to the genie"

Rich and I learned a big lesson while away. Christian is almost 40", the magic number at Disney, so sometimes we had a few tears when he wasn't able to go on those rides. There is one ride we figured he would love to go on, Thunder Mountain Railway but there was the 40" rule. We came up with a brilliant (or not ) idea of folding up a couple of maps and sticking them into his shoes to see if we could get him up to the magic number - and we did. However, we miscalculated the repercussion of our decision. Christian was fine - he survived the ride, he liked it - don't think loved it b/c it is pretty intense, however, Ethan was not so fine. He was soooo upset - he couldn't believe that we would stick something in Christian's shoe to get him on the ride - he couldn't believe that we would lie. At first Rich was trying to reason with him - oh Christian really would like the ride etc, etc but I just said look it, we weren't honest there's not excuse for it. We can't make excuses or we're teaching Ethan that if you really want something it's okay to cheat a little. As adults we rationalize little "white" lies, it something doesn't quite suite us we can sometimes bend the rules but to a 7 year old who clearly sees life as black and white there is NO excuse for little "white" lies. We both felt horrible for letting him down. I know how he feels b/c I'm a very black and white person, however over the years I've come to realize that not every views right and wrong the same as me, even Christians (can you believe that;0) and so I've come to see other people's point of views (don't necessarily agree with them but can see their point). Parents out there, our kids are looking up to us and we need to make sure we're living a life that exemplifies how we want them to live. I'm glad he called us on our lie b/c in a few years I don't want him to be able to say "But mom I really wanted to do that so I thought it was okay to...lie, steal b/c remember Christian really wanted to go on that ride and you lied to get him on. I know that's a bit extreme but really we have to model the behaviour and lifestyle we want for our kids.

Ethan held on to this for a couple of days. We apologized, Christian was not allowed to go back on that ride and we told him we would never stick maps in Christian's shoes again.

There was a funny part to the story. The next day when he went up to get Aladdin and Jasmines' autographs they asked the kids what their fav. rides were and Christian said Choo Choos. So they asked which one and that's all it took to prompt Ethan to explain that Christian went on Thunder mountain b/c his mom and dad put maps in his shoes. Aladdin's answer - What a trick! We were all slowing walking away b/f the Disney police could come and capture us.

oops

Just realized I wrote about Ethan twice. Oh well! Kind of funny that they both say almost the exact same thing!

7 years ago....

some of the can good he collected

star wars dudes on his cupcakes

we welcomed Ethan James into our lives. Sometimes I really feel like the poor kid is our guinea pig - he's the one that we are trying out all of our parenting skills (or lack of) on and sometimes I worry that we're screwing him up. Hopefully, God is hearing our prayers and doing His own work on Ethan to compensate for our mistakes! Ethan is a great little boy. He can SO frustrating at times and then at other times he is SO amazing. He can drive his sibs insane and then he can be so kind and gentle with them that I can't believe he's the same kid. He has a memory for everything (sometimes a good thing and sometimes not so much). We are learning that he has a very strong sense of what is right and what is wrong (tell ya more in another post). He loves star wars, lego, soccer, hockey - basically anything his daddy is into he is into. He has lots of friends - he loves to play football and recess and give me loads of grass stained clothes and stinky socks. He loves his sister so much as well as his brothers. Ethan always willing goes and gets things for me when I need help with Callia - he never argues about it. I love him so much and love to still get in the hugs and kisses when I can b/c even though he is growing up quickly he is still only 7!

For his bday party we went to a pool. They spent an hour in the pool and then some time at the poolside eating and then went in again. He wanted to invite the max. number the pool allowed - 11 - I said okay but gave him a suggestion. I suggested that instead of receiving 11 presents (no space for that) why don't we ask for 5 bucks and a canned good that we would take to the foodbank. He agreed. So on his birthday the kids all came with canned goods and Ethan collected 19 items!! We didn't have time to go to the food bank b/c of our vacation but now we will. The kids all counted the items as I pulled them out of the bag and they seemed pretty impressed with themselves. When we got home Ethan opened up the cards and was so excited b/c he was so BLESSED. Many of the people didn't just gave 5 dollars - some gave 10 or 15 or even 20. So instead of receiving 40 dollars (some couldn't come and one had already bought a present) he received 80! Not that you give to get but it's not every 7 year old who will willingly give up getting a bunch of toys so that he can buy probably just one and then give to those who need food. Anyways, it turned out to be a great day for him. We look forward to another year with our eldest - hoping that God's influence on him surpasses ours!:)